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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 24, 2000

Wild and woolly times skiing in New Zealand

I recently made a visit to New Zealand. I know what you're thinking -- SHEEP! Yes, there were lots of sheep. However, their numbers have dwindled recently due to the increase of synthetics instead of wool for clothing manufacturing. I'm not sure where synthetic fibers come from. My guess is lemmings....
CULTURE / Music
Sep 24, 2000

Grand old men give grand concerts

Hiroshi Wakasugi, 65, recently conducted a presentation of Benjamin Britten's opera "A Midsummer Night's Dream," sumptuously staged by the Nikikai Opera. Hiroyuki Iwaki, 68, recently conducted Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in a brilliant program opening with a clever arrangement by Yuzo Toyama, 69, of...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2000

U.N. deaths are no surprise

The recent death of U.N. aid workers in Timor was a tragedy. The reprehensible action has rightly drawn international condemnation. The perpetrators will hopefully be caught, tried and punished.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 24, 2000

Impressions made in paper take form

When the semioticist Roland Barthes came to Japan, he decided to do what many foreigners do, which is to base his impressions of Japan on exactly that, his impressions. His book "The Empire of Signs" is ostensibly about Japan, but the author acknowledged (with no shame) that it actually was a collection...
CULTURE / Art
Sep 24, 2000

The powerful influence of Japan

Western artists of the mid-19th century were both entranced and distracted by their turbulent times. Many sought fresh ways to see the world around them, "savoir voir" as distinct from "savoir faire."
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2000

Beijing's de facto currency devaluation

Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji approached Hong Kong officials to seek advice on the potential impact of greater flexibility in the valuation of the yuan and a possible devaluation. Of course, officials in Hong Kong are quite interested in the impact of changes in China's exchange-rate regime. Nonetheless,...
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2000

Otsuka goes to beat of a different drum

Playing word association with the names of the stations along the Yamanote Line is, for the most part, quite a simple task. Akihabara -- electrical goods; Ueno -- bullet train and animals; Shibuya -- teenage fashion.
SOCCER / J. League
Sep 24, 2000

Perryman to quit S-Pulse

Shimizu S-Pulse manager Steve Perryman is to leave the club at the end of the current season.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 24, 2000

Janet Thompson

Janet Thompson says that Tokyo International Players has such a sparkling reputation that people, not only those directly associated with TIP, always love to help. "It's wonderful," she said. "We needed secondhand furniture for 'Lend Me a Tenor,' and the company Kensington in Shirogane willingly supplied...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2000

Debt relief key to poor nations' progress

NEW YORK -- A pledge by wealthy nations, to be announced officially this week in Prague, to provide substantial economic aid to poor nations, is an important step in the right direction. To be truly effective, however, economic aid should be part of a more general aid package -- including cancellation...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Sep 24, 2000

From lady killer to whale protector

So Japanese fishermen are banned from U.S waters. Whales rejoice, environmentalists celebrate, Texas Gov. George W. Bush loses a point, U.S., President Bill Clinton drafts a chapter for his memoir called "After Monica: Whales!", I grieve.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2000

Mr. Estrada takes the offensive

After nearly six months of fruitless negotiations, Philippine President Joseph Estrada has ordered military action to free kidnap victims and arrest their captors. Mr. Estrada's patience has run out. But if he thinks the army can fix what ails the southern Philippines, he is mistaken. Some of the kidnappers...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Blackman refuses to give up on daughter

Tim Blackman is frustrated, in turns optimistic and pessimistic, but above all adamant that he will find out what happened to his daughter.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2000

MITI urges dialogue on oil prices

International Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma on Friday played down the impact of soaring crude oil prices on the economy and stressed the importance of dialogue between oil-consuming and -producing countries.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Korean to be part of college test

The government is to add Korean to the list of foreign languages that applicants can be tested in when taking entrance examinations for state-run universities, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Cases of TB reported in Japan rose 10% to 48,264 in '99

Japan saw a nearly 10 percent rise in the number of new tuberculosis cases in 1999, the third straight year of increase, according to a government survey released Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2000

NTT East, West mull further workforce cuts

NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp. are contemplating deeper workforce "cuts" because the popularity of mobile phones and a future obligation to reduce the fees it charges other carriers are eating into their profitability, officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Daiwa executives appeal ruling

OSAKA -- Eleven former and current executives of Daiwa Bank on Friday appealed a district court ruling ordering them to pay the bank $775 million -- some 83 billion yen -- in compensation for massive losses stemming from unauthorized securities trading at the bank's New York branch over an 11-year period...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Greenhouse gas output declines

Emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases dropped 3.5 percent to the carbon equivalent of 1.336 billion tons in fiscal 1998 from the previous year, according to an Environment Agency report released Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Rightists sentenced for attack on editor

Two members of a rightwing group were sentenced to 16 months in prison Friday for assaulting a magazine editor over an article they considered insulting to the Imperial family.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Whales' diets threaten fish stocks, whaler says

The eating habits of whales are changing and are likely to affect the fishery industry, according to the head of Japan's "research whaling" fleet, which returned to port Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Sep 23, 2000

Shinohara loses in controversy

SYDNEY -- Was he robbed? Reigning world champion Shinichi Shinohara thought so, standing on the mat in protest at the judge's decision to award defending Olympic champion David Douillet a "yuko" that won him the Olympic gold medal in the over-100-kg class at the Sydney Exhibition Center on Friday night....
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Mori, Cohen agree to keep watch on Pyongyang

Japan, the United States and South Korea must still closely watch North Korea despite Pyongyang's recent gestures of detente, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen agreed Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Pupils to be required to volunteer: panel

An education advisory panel to the prime minister on Friday submitted an interim report calling for drastic changes in the current education system that would nurture volunteer spirit among students by requiring them to do community service.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2000

MMC must consider consumers: panel

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. must look at the quality of their products from the standpoint of consumers in order to improve development and production, the automaker's quality control advisory committee said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

High level of carcinogen found at old Nissan plant

A concentration of trichloroethylene 1,600 times above the national environmental standard has been detected at the site of a former Nissan Motors Co. plant in Tokyo's Suginami Ward, company officials said Friday.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji